What’s killing my corals?

[Pistondog]

Try to clean up the water and gravel, to remove stuff that might be feeding whatever causes bjd.
Here's a good read on cipro and reducing bjd causes.

Experimenting with in-tank antibiotic treatments for Brown Jelly Disease

Brown Jelly Disease (BJD) is an issue many reefers have run into. Like most coral diseases, the pathogen causing BJD has not been conclusively determined. Here I will share some observations and test results supporting the idea that its caused by a bacterial pathogen, and so may be treatable...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Idech]

Funny you mention that. When I look for things on the internet I always get adds pop up on my home page. Big brother is real. I used a large siphon tube with a drill driven pump but too large for my salt tank, and as I found out later not totally effective. However I saw one for very reasonable money that works like a skimmer, with a venturi action. About $30. Maybe I will try that

Just get the whole python kit. It connects to your faucet and the water dumps into your sink. No mess.

 

[bruno3047]

Here is what I have to deal with on my older tank. I tried but no room. If you have a picture I could be wrong

The same crap that is making your mushrooms thrive, is killing your SPS and your torches. Pick one. Good luck.

 

[fish farmer]

It seems you have done a lot of changes, lights, flow.

I've noticed my hammers don't like change. I cleaned the tank too much and they didn't like it. They grew into the higher flow and had heads bail. I had one colony drop on the sand, head bailed. I increased the lights, they didn't fill out like they did prior.

Getting razor blade out was a good thing.

 

[bruno3047]

Here is what I have to deal with on my older tank. I tried but no room. If you have a picture I could be wrong

Please disregard my previous post. I thought you were the OP.

 

[Lavey29]

Here is what I have to deal with on my older tank. I tried but no room. If you have a picture I could be wrong

Mushroom palooza....cool.... I like shrooms too

 

[Freenow54]

The same crap that is making your mushrooms thrive, is killing your SPS and your torches. Pick one. Good luck.

Interested could you be more specific? I have a new 90 I am starting, and do not like repeating mistakes. Measured all test kit parameters, and all good in the one you see. However do have some strange creatures in the substrate. Dont have any sps or torches( don't know what that is honestly ) in the tank but will in the new one nothing yet until I ensure lighting . where I made sure I have room to clean substrate

 

[Lavey29]

Interested could you be more specific? I have a new 90 I am starting, and do not like repeating mistakes. Measured all test kit parameters, and all good in the one you see. However do have some strange creatures in the substrate. Dont have any sps or torches( don't know what that is honestly ) in the tank but will in the new one nothing yet until I ensure lighting . where I made sure I have room to clean substrate

A lot of tanks have an over abundance of corals wall to wall and are never able to clean the substrate yet thrive year after year. It has to do with biodiversity and the bacteria and microfauna they have in their tanks. Obviously an abundance of good stuff in their unvacuumed substrate.

 

[Lavey29]

See I told you I like shrooms too

 

[bruno3047]

Interested could you be more specific? I have a new 90 I am starting, and do not like repeating mistakes. Measured all test kit parameters, and all good in the one you see. However do have some strange creatures in the substrate. Dont have any sps or torches( don't know what that is honestly ) in the tank but will in the new one nothing yet until I ensure lighting . where I made sure I have room to clean substrate

Detritus is bad. There’s some controversy regarding this but I am convinced, from personal experience in 35 years of reef keeping, that if you don’t clean your gravel/sand of detritus from time to time, you will end up with a dead tank. This becomes painfully apparent when the water you remove from your sand bed smells like death. Google “old tank syndrome” for more information on this subject. Good luck with your new tank

 

[bruno3047]

Interested could you be more specific? I have a new 90 I am starting, and do not like repeating mistakes. Measured all test kit parameters, and all good in the one you see. However do have some strange creatures in the substrate. Dont have any sps or torches( don't know what that is honestly ) in the tank but will in the new one nothing yet until I ensure lighting . where I made sure I have room to clean substrate

Here you go pal. Read up.

The “Old Tank” Syndrome

Now that a tank no longer needs to be broken down and tanks are being maintained for long periods of time a new

reefs.com

 

[Lavey29]

While I do think vacuuming open areas of sand is beneficial to a tank, in most of our tanks its probably much less then 50% that is reachable to be cleaned.

This tank is 45 years old. How soon before old tank syndrome affects him? I doubt it ever will because of his natural approach to reefing. What a beautiful tank after so many years.

Reef Tank 365 - Reef Tank 365 Featured Tank by Paul B

Today's Reef Tank 365 Feature is Paul B's 45+ Year-Old Reef Join me in congratulating @Paul B for his tank being spotlighted as today's Reef Tank 365 feature! This 100-gallon reef was started in 1971 (Yep! That's over 45 YEARS!!!) :eek::eek::eek:. You can follow this reef and see more pics...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[fish farmer]

While I do think vacuuming open areas of sand is beneficial to a tank, in most of our tanks its probably much less then 50% that is reachable to be cleaned.

This tank is 45 years old. How soon before old tank syndrome affects him? I doubt it ever will because of his natural approach to reefing. What a beautiful tank after so many years.

Reef Tank 365 - Reef Tank 365 Featured Tank by Paul B

Today's Reef Tank 365 Feature is Paul B's 45+ Year-Old Reef Join me in congratulating @Paul B for his tank being spotlighted as today's Reef Tank 365 feature! This 100-gallon reef was started in 1971 (Yep! That's over 45 YEARS!!!) :eek::eek::eek:. You can follow this reef and see more pics...

www.reef2reef.com

Paul actually uses a diatom filter from time to time on his rocks to blast the detritus off. He also employs a reverse flow UG filter so it is much different than say a non touched DSB. FWIW I pulled a 4 inch DSB last year which was 20 years old..it was on a FOWLR, nitrates and phosphates were high, lots of surface detritus. When I pulled the bed I expected it to smell like low tide and be full of crap....it wasn't, no black sand pockets. I could have rinsed the sand and used it again, it was that clean looking.

 

[bruno3047]

While I do think vacuuming open areas of sand is beneficial to a tank, in most of our tanks its probably much less then 50% that is reachable to be cleaned.

This tank is 45 years old. How soon before old tank syndrome affects him? I doubt it ever will because of his natural approach to reefing. What a beautiful tank after so many years.

Reef Tank 365 - Reef Tank 365 Featured Tank by Paul B

Today's Reef Tank 365 Feature is Paul B's 45+ Year-Old Reef Join me in congratulating @Paul B for his tank being spotlighted as today's Reef Tank 365 feature! This 100-gallon reef was started in 1971 (Yep! That's over 45 YEARS!!!) :eek::eek::eek:. You can follow this reef and see more pics...

www.reef2reef.com

I’m sure there are many tanks out there that have the perfect balance of microfauna, corals and fish that they don’t need to remove the detritus from their systems because the microfauna does it for them. For me, rather than take a chance on having that perfect balance, I just clean my gravel every time I do a water change. I do a 30-35% water change twice a year in my 125 with a thorough cleaning of all the substrate I can reach. I also dose Essential Elements from Kent to maintain trace element levels. There are many different ways to keep a successful reef tank, you just have to find yours. And I think I found mine. In fact, after many years of early failure and recent success, I’m confident enough that I’m building a 325. Tank, stand, filter, everything DIY.

 

[Freenow54]

Here you go pal. Read up.

The “Old Tank” Syndrome

Now that a tank no longer needs to be broken down and tanks are being maintained for long periods of time a new

reefs.com

Thanks will have to read this a few more times ,but learned something new

 

[Freenow54]

The same crap that is making your mushrooms thrive, is killing your SPS and your torches. Pick one. Good luck.

Here is another thing. You may have answered a question I had earlier. I had to move that aquarium to do the floor. The result was not good. I knew it had something to do with the substrate not not sure what. Lost a number of coral, and possibly answers why my clown suddenly got hugely aggressive. So I have a third tank. What is the consensus of going bare bottom?

 

[bruno3047]

Here is another thing. You may have answered a question I had earlier. I had to move that aquarium to do the floor. The result was not good. I knew it had something to do with the substrate not not sure what. Lost a number of coral, and possibly answers why my clown suddenly got hugely aggressive. So I have a third tank. What is the consensus of going bare bottom?

Well bare bottom, by it’s very definition, removes the issue of toxins accumulating in your sand bed. Personally, I’m not crazy about the look.

 

[Lavey29]

I’m sure there are many tanks out there that have the perfect balance of microfauna, corals and fish that they don’t need to remove the detritus from their systems because the microfauna does it for them. For me, rather than take a chance on having that perfect balance, I just clean my gravel every time I do a water change. I do a 30-35% water change twice a year in my 125 with a thorough cleaning of all the substrate I can reach. I also dose Essential Elements from Kent to maintain trace element levels. There are many different ways to keep a successful reef tank, you just have to find yours. And I think I found mine. In fact, after many years of early failure and recent success, I’m confident enough that I’m building a 325. Tank, stand, filter, everything DIY.

Absolutely, what works best for your success. How much of your substrate are you actually able to reach without removing hardscape? For me, it's maybe 30% of sand I can reach.

 

[bruno3047]

Absolutely, what works best for your success. How much of your substrate are you actually able to reach without removing hardscape? For me, it's maybe 30% of sand I can reach

I’d say I can reach between 75% and 80% of my substrate. I planned the tank that way from the beginning, that’s why I can access so much of it.

 

[bruno3047]

Absolutely, what works best for your success. How much of your substrate are you actually able to reach without removing hardscape? For me, it's maybe 30% of sand I can reach.

What you can do in your 90 to increase access to the substrate is put three base pillar rocks across the bottom and then bridge across those with larger base rocks so you have two caves underneath. Obviously the larger the caves the more access you have to the substrate. And then you could put your live rock on top of that. I used all base rock, no live rock, to keep the pests out. Of course, it’s all live rock now. Also, the three base pillars I cut flat on the bottoms so they would be stable.